Improvement in railroad-cars



MILER LVTOWLE Car Starter.

No. 42.590.` Patented May 3,-1186-4.-

lllllmlunulmllll i IlllHllllllllllllllllll NYI NJETERS, PHOTOLITHOGRA?NER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES HAMILTON E. IOWLIL OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND WILLIAM MILLER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 12,590., dated May 3, 1864.

To all whom it may concer-71,:

Beit known that we, HAMILTON E. TowLE, ofthe city, county, and State of New York, and WILLIAM MILLER, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, Commonwealth of Massachusetts,

y have invented a new and useful Improvement for Overcoming theIResistances Encountered by Street-Cars and other Vehicles; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference thereon.

The nature of our invention consists in connectin g the traction-chain, rod, or haulingebar of the vehicle with a ratchet or its equivalent upon an axle or wheel of the vehicle by means of a lever and a pawl or catch, in such a manner as to secure an increased leverage to overf come the existing resistances, thereby requiring a less tractive or lnotive forceto start or increase the velocity ofthe vehicle than would otherwise be required-z'. e., without the aid of such increased leverage;

The utilility and need of a contrivance which will accomplish the result above described is very apparent in the case of streetca-rs drawn by horses, which are continually being stopped, and consequently requiring and absorbing great amounts of animal force in overcoming the prejudicial resistances unavoidably encountered every time the car is started. I

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

We construct a ratchet or toothed wheel, a, upon the axle b, through which to transmit the tractive force employed to advance and rotate the axle. The hauling-bar o is allowed to move in the direction of its length through the guides d. d over a space limited by the stops e e. The haulingbar c is connected by means of the radius-rod f to the lever g in such a manner that the longitudinal motion of the hauling-bar e causes an oscillation of the lever. A pawl or catch, h, is hinged to the lever g by the pin t'. This pawl is made to engage the teeth of the ratchet a by means of a spring, j, pressing between the pawl h and the hauling-bar c. A rod, k, provided with a slot at one end, allowsthe pawl to engage the ratchet a during such motion of the haulingbar c as will bring the end of the slot in the rod 7a to rest against the pin m in the haulingbar c. When the motion of the hauling-bar c is sufficient, in either direction, to cause the end of the slot and the pin m to come in contact, the catch h is drawn away from the teeth of the rachet a, allowing the axle to revolve in either direction, the same as if this contrivance were not applied.

The practical operation of this invention may be described as follows: The car being at rest, the hauling-bar will be shoved in from the retarding force exerted by the horses or from a spring or its equivalent applied for this express purpose. `(Not shown in the drawing.) The catch h now escapes the teeth of the rachet, being held from them by the rod 7c, which is supported by the pin m against the end of the slot in a position inclining backward. The horses being started, the hauling-bar c is drawn forward, whereupon the new position of thc rod 7c permits the catch or pawl It to engage a tooth of the ratchet, when the tractive force directly operates to revolve and advance the axle, and in so doing moves the car forward till its inertia and resistances are overcome. By the time this is accomplished the rod lc becomes inclined forward to such an extent that the end of the slot rests on the pin m, and causes the catch or pawl h to be drawn clear of the ratchet,

whereupon the: haulingbar is stopped from being farther drawn out by the pin or stop e', which latter now receives the whole of the tractive force and communicates it to the car by direct contact with some of its parts.

We do not coniine ourselves to the precise mechanical arrangement herein described, as it is obvious that substantially the same results may be obtained by simply substituting well-known mechanical equivalents for some of the parts described. For example, instead of the ratchet may be used a friction or other clutch, and for the lever may be used a pulley and chain, and for the spring a weight. Moreover, any of these may be combined and applied upon a supplementary or counter shaft connected with one of the axles or wheels of the vehicle, accomplishing substantially the same result. We however prefer the arrangement shown in the accompanying draw- `ing.

As heretofore applied, the tractive force of vehicles acts With a leverage equal to the distance ofthe bearing-point ofthe wheel on the ground or track from the center of the axle-z'. e., the radius of the Wheel. By our invention the force is made to act in starting (or accelerating the motion of) vehicles with a greater leverage than the radius ofthe Wheel, thereby requiring` a force proportionately less.

What We claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of alever and pawl and ratchet With the draft-bar7 in the manner and for the purpose specied. 

